Mumbai: In an interesting robbery detection, the Mumbai police have cracked at least 25 house-breaking cases with the same modus operandi by two men allegedly since 2017. While tracking them, the police found out that they stole gold and cash from houses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and built two huge bungalows with seven bedrooms each in their hometown in Uttar Pradesh.
The matter surfaced in mid-April when a Vidyavihar resident reported theft of gold and cash amounting to Rs24 lakh when he and his family were in Lonavala for summer vacation. The Ghatkopar police discovered similar modus operandi in two other cases registered in Kasarvadavali (Thane) just a month ago and Tilak Nagar in 2020.
FPJ SPECIAL: Man’s Peacock Feather Tattoo Helps Cops Crack 25 Robbery Cases | Ghatkopar Police
CCTV footage help nab culprits
The police analysed CCTV footage from the Vidyavihar crime spot and spotted two masked men dressed in shorts and vests jumping from the podium of a building. After the robbery, they were seen at Vidyavihar station in completely different attires, boarding a train towards Kalyan. “They changed their clothes but one of them couldn’t mask a tattoo of a peacock feather on his right arm. In all the previous similar crimes, one suspect was said to have that tattoo, which confirmed their involvement,” said sub-inspector (crime) Dnyaneshwar Kharmate.
The police checked CCTV footage of almost every railway station from Vidyavihar to Badlapur, and took help from technical investigation, suggesting their presence in Diva. “By fluke, after eight days of search, we showed the CCTV grab to a chaiwallah (in Diva), who identified the tattoo and showed us a house. Even though the house had been emptied out, the owner recognised the tattoo and gave us phone numbers of our suspects,” the officer added.
Accused Persons
This started yet another journey from Diva to Noida and then in Siddharth Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. “We came looking for two ordinary criminals but ended up finding them owning huge bungalows. They even had one room for fodder for cattle,” the official exclaimed.
The first accused, Chintu Chaudhary Nisad, 34, was arrested by the police who wore ‘ghamcha’ and dhoti to disguise themselves from the accused.
The other, whose identity is protected for investigation, got alerted about the police and fled with his two daughters and wife via the UP-Nepal border.
Chintu, who is currently in police custody, has confessed to his involvement in several crimes in Ghatkopar, Bhandup, Kalwa, MHB, Tilak Nagar, Khandeshwar, Virar, Thane, Kalyan and Dombivali. As of now, items worth Rs12 lakh have been recovered from him. Several robbery tools have also been seized from the bungalows of the accused.
Chintu told the police they never used mobile phones or devices and didn’t make any online transactions to stay untraceable. “The clothes they wore during the crime were always changed before they moved out publicly. They waited at secluded places for almost three hours before they changed clothes and moved to another location. We are currently looking for the second accused,” the officer said.
